contributed to the artillery barrage form offshore. Several times Sirrurg took to the sky and obliterated any Aztlans who crossed him, but he was unable to leave the engagement zone. Airborne controllers had several waves of craft stacked at different altitudes and at various positions around the engagement. As soon as Sirrurg attempted a breakthrough, the controllers simply vectored in other craft to cut him off; all the while Sirrurg was under constant barrage and bombardment. On his fifth failed attempt to take wing, Aztlan pilots and spotters confirmed that Sirrurg was wounded, even bleeding profusely, and his wings were completely torn to shreds. One pilot even reported that the great dragon’s right eye was gone.

Sirrurg was hurt, but Task Forces Two and Three were mauled. Over half of their drones and nearly as many aircraft were either destroyed or forced to disengage after sustaining significant damage. At least thirty pilots were forced to punch out over the Pacific and two command and control aircraft were also downed thanks to enemy spirits. Still, both sides pressed on, neither one offering any quarter. Sirrurg leapt several times into the air to attack passing craft, but already he was starting to slow down.

Approximately ninety-eight minutes after the land engagement began, reinforcements from Task Force One and Sirrurg’s followers arrived. Coming in from the north, both groups made contact twenty kilometers from the engagement zone and ferociously tore at each other as they arrived. One group from Sirrurg’s reinforcements also broke off and destroyed the temporary firebases while another forced the Aztlan naval elements to withdraw. The tide of the battle appeared